مدیریت ارتباط با مشتری (CRM) در دولت الکترونیکی: یک چشم انداز رابطه ای

The case of the National IT Literacy Program (NITLP) as part of Singapore's e-government initiative serves to illustrate the evolution of strategic customer relationship management (CRM) practices. The role of CRM has remained relatively consistent even though its practices have evolved in response to both environmental and technological changes. This study introduces the concepts of relational incentive, relational value and relational tool that position indirect communications as an important contender to direct communications for organizational relationship building. This study adopts a relational perspective with which to formulate a managerial strategy for CRM that is independent of direct organizational involvement.

The notion of forging intimate connections with consumers to understand the needs, preferences and potential of distinct market segments has been a crucial driving force behind organizations' mounting emphasis on customer relationship management (CRM) [26]. In particular, corporations are growing wiser to the archaic marketing philosophy of reaching out to every customer in an identical manner [26], and look upon CRM as the means to identify profitable patrons, convert prospective clients and establish lasting strategic partnerships with beneficial business partners [20], [66] and [83]. A more recent study by Reinartz and Kumar [60] even dispels the common myth that a loyal customer is equivalent to a lucrative one, and calls for a better approach in assessing the business worthiness of each consumer. Not surprisingly, the aforementioned phenomena have spurred an extensive amount of studies conducted on CRM initiatives (see [16], [61] and [81]) and with the apparent dominion of information technology (IT) in the future, the growth of CRM in electronic commerce (EC) is also rapidly gaining momentum [64]. Nevertheless, despite the overwhelming number of articles presented on the advancement of CRM across various service industries (see [1], [3] and [45]), few, if any, have explored the management of customer relations within governmental agencies. The public sector is one of the most primitive and predominant service domains in any community, with a wide array of governmental services catering to all aspects of society and economy [32]. Considering the dynamism in coping with such diverse stakeholders, Gregory [28] cites public responsiveness as an important distinction of effectiveness and efficiency within civil administration. This view is supplemented Thomas [75], who proposes a mutual trusting alliance as the core binding element between public organizations and their customers in achieving a convergence of interests. Though, e-government [72] has complicated matters by inducing a sense of urgency in stepping up to rising public expectations of improved interactivity and enhanced sensitivity [33] and [77]. In this light, CRM becomes strategically significant in promoting e-government acceptance by providing a forum for public agencies and their customers to fine-tune e-services to meet each other's precise requirements [11]. Moreover, the premise of public administration is undergoing transformation with the redesign of old-fashioned bureaucratic governmental structures [48] to accommodate an emerging generation of modernized public services [15]. In particular, the vision of transforming a government to become more customer-oriented is continuously being called for in theoretical literature [73]. This study addresses the issue of CRM in e-government development by examining the case of the National IT Literacy Program (NITLP) in Singapore. The NITLP is one of the pivotal e-government initiatives introduced by the Singapore government to create an e-inclusive society that is competitive in a global knowledge-based economy. Specifically, the program is designed as a springboard to propel the nation into the forefront of e-commerce adoption activities [12]. Considering the unique context associated with such an extensive project, the NITLP serves as an excellent anchor point from which to explore and evaluate the practice of CRM in e-government. This article seeks to contribute towards (1) a review of the role of CRM in e-governments and (2) the application of CRM in fostering strategic customer relations in public administration.

The strategic management of customer relations in this case study refers to an evaluation of the relational value contained within any thread in a web of relations so as to develop a relational tool that maximizes relational incentive to induce customer behavior that aids the e-governmental organization in accomplishing its goals. In other words, the focus on CRM in the context of e-government would be to improve service related measures, maximizing customer equity measured using “goodwill” of citizens and reducing costs of service. From the above discussion, it is clear that the practice of CRM in e-government varies from conventional ideas in three aspects: (1) the ability of the public organization to recognize an intricate network of stakeholder–customer relations and the existing influence of relational incentives brought about by these relations; (2) the strategy adopted by the governmental institution to segment identified stakeholders as well as customers; and (3) the means by which the public agency communicates its mission to each of these individual segments. Essentially, the goal of CRM in e-government has remained fundamentally as the need for organization in a public setting to manage strategic relations with its customers in order to accomplish its missions. However, findings from the case do point to an emerging paradigm for the strategic management of customer relations. This shift in the relational strategies that bears important implications for other organizations within the private domain can be characterized by the refinements made to the physical manifestations of three underlying principles of CRM: (1) The identification of potential stakeholders who may not be directly involved in the situation but can offer a better relational incentive than the organization in affecting the behavioral changes of primary customers. (2) The segmentation of stakeholders and customers in accordance to their relational value inherent within a relationship as opposed to pure customer categorization in order to identify opportunities for the organization to capitalize on existing relational characteristics that are more relevant to the business situation. (3) The development of a relational tool that maximizes the relational incentive required to extract the relational value within any stakeholder relationship. In terms of implications for e-government research and practice, improving the proficiency of citizens' usage of the Internet has become one of the most crucial and challenging issues facing most governments. E-government initiatives changed the way government services are delivered and organized. In order to educate and prepare its people to be more proficient in Internet usage, most government have started to engage in nation-wide campaigns in embracing this change—the way public information and services are delivered. At the end of the day, the future success of e-government would very dependent on citizens' proficiency level of the Internet usage. This study presents the case of the NITLP, an important illustration of the evolution of CRM practices within the context of an e-government initiative. The findings indicate that the role of CRM within such public settings has remained relatively stagnant even though its practices have evolved in conjunction with environmental changes. The concepts of relational incentive, relational value and relational tool approach the practice of CRM from a slightly different and creative angle that positions indirect communications as an important contender to direct communications for organizational customer relationship building. These three elements of CRM are necessary in successfully implementing and running of an e-government. Without cultivating the right relational value among the staff of government agencies, any incentives and relational tools would not be considered as useful to the overall success of e-government initiatives. Having said that, however, it will be presumptuous for this study to call for reforms to existing CRM practices based on the findings of a single case study. Instead, as mentioned very early in the paper, the objective of this study is to review the role and application of CRM in e-government and perhaps, in the process, offer an alternative direction for academic research and the organizational management of customer relations along the lines of communication strategies that can exploit the inherent relational values of existing relationships.